Destination: Setting Sun
by Sixty Watermelons
Summary: Outsiders songfic to The Academy Is...'s "Paper Chase." Ponyboy's graduation from high school. R


**A/N: I'm ba-ack! I should have been doing homework, but instead I wrote up this lovely song-fic! I don't own the song "Paper Chase" (that is The Academy Is...'s, off of their album _Fast Times at Barrington High_) and I don't own _The Outsiders_ (that's S.E. Hinton's.) In case there was any confusion, or you're not a TAI fan, _Destination: Setting Sun _is a line from "Paper Chase." Actually, this song is my theme song of the year. I'm graduating middle school, though. R&R**_

* * *

_

_Please stand by, we've come so far  
These years, we survived the ride that turned us inside out  
Repeat after me, just scream and shout  
"It was the best of times from broken homes and battle scars  
to where we are."_

"Ponyboy Michael Curtis."

As I walked up to the stage to receive my diploma, I couldn't believe where I was right now—the second Curtis brother to graduate high school and the first to go to college. It was a little unnerving that I was leaving Tulsa soon, heading up north to Columbia, where I was on a full scholarship. I only got that 'cause I was third-best in the class and co-captain of A-squad track. It was a lot of work, especially junior year, but it all paid off.

I can see Darry in the audience and he's beaming.

_Graduate, paper chase,  
We'll get out of this place  
Don't turn around  
Hit the highway, pour some liquor out for this town  
Now that's all for us, its last call, drink up_

"Let's hear it for Ponyboy!" Two-Bit shouted, lifting up the glass bottle in his hand. He and Steve were drinking beer, but I was drinking a Pepsi. I still don't like the idea of drinking. I grinned, and Two-Bit rubbed my head. "We're gonna miss you." I took a sip of my soda to keep from having to respond. I was pretty terrified of leaving this place. It was the only place I'd ever lived.

_Roll it out, it's over now  
We're the cast-outs with messed up friends who never did fit in  
Don't care where it ends  
It doesn't matter now  
As long as we're as one, we'll take the next bus  
Destination: Setting sun_

I finished my letter to Sodapop, detailing graduation, and put it in an envelope. He had been drafted about eight months back, and he'd only written a couple letters. I'd written him at least three times a month. I hated that he'd missed this, but all I could do for him was pray that he'd stay safe. It had been really hard at first, especially for Darry. I could hear him crying at night, every night, from the time Soda got the notice until a couple weeks after he'd left. Steve had been even more upset, but he dealt with his feelings by fighting. He had a nasty scar from his stomach up to right below his neck from the time some hood pulled a blade on him. And Two-Bit never let us in on how he felt. He just tried to keep us all happy.

I sealed the envelope as I walked out the front door to the mailbox. I looked up at the setting sun, knowing that I wouldn't have many more chances to watch them here, in front of my house, underneath the Tulsa sky.

_Graduate, paper chase,  
We'll get out of this place  
Don't turn around  
Hit the highway, pour some liquor out for this town  
Now that's all for us, its last call, drink up_

I went into my room pretty soon after dark. I hadn't really felt like celebrating, so after we had eaten the cake Darry had made, Two-Bit and Steve had left, but I wasn't tired, either. I had kicked off my sneakers and was lying down on my bed, but the light was on and I wasn't trying to go to sleep. I was just thinking about how far I'd come from the time after Dally and Johnny had died. Back then I was in such a stupor all the time, banging into things and flunking out of my classes. Now look at me—I know I'm going places.

I pulled on my shoes again and walked down to the vacant lot.

_Graduate, paper chase,  
We'll get out of this place  
Don't turn around  
Hit the highway, pour some liquor out for this town  
Now that's all for us, its last call, drink up  
_

I walked around the lot for a couple minutes, remembering what started everything. It was also where Dally had died. Now, it was mostly just an empty lot. None of us really come here much anymore. Too much had happened. Maybe Steve or Two-Bit would stop by sometimes, maybe get in a fight, but this place was too painful for me to come to. But I'd just graduated.

"I just graduated," I said out loud, my voice breaking the silent night. It didn't feel as good as it'd felt before. Now it felt strange.

_This is an open invite for all to attend  
Don't ask too many questions now  
Don't tell us how it ends  
Because we're the ones who wrote the end  
_

I came out of the lot and went back home, heading to the bathroom to brush my teeth before I went to bed. After I'd spit and rinsed, I looked at myself in the mirror for a while. I was sixteen. I hadn't greased my hair today, and it was natural again—not blond, but reddish-brown. It wasn't long the way I used to keep it either, but that was partially because Darry'd made me get a haircut for graduation and partially because I'd cut all the blond off a while as soon as I could, and that had made it really short. My eyes looked really green. This is what I look like, I told myself. This is Ponyboy. And he's going to college now.

_Graduate, paper chase,  
We'll get out of this place  
Don't turn around  
Hit the highway, pour some liquor out for this town  
Now that's all for us, its last cal,l drink up  
_

I took off my shoes and climbed into bed, turning off the lights this time. Wasn't this supposed to be one of the biggest days of your life? I didn't feel that great. I was going to miss home and Darry and Two-Bit and Steve. I already missed Sodapop. And Johnny and Dally were gone, so they didn't even know I'd graduated. For all they knew, I was working at the DX like Steve and Soda were.

No, I told myself. They knew you better than that. They knew that wasn't where you wanted to be.

_Graduate, paper chase,  
We'll get out of this place  
Don't turn around  
Hit the highway, pour some liquor out for this town  
Now that's all for us, its last call, drink up_


End file.
